Latest news with #VikingRiverCruises
Travel Weekly
20-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Viking says 2025 is effectively sold out
Viking is practically sold out for 2025. The cruise line had sold 92% of 2025 inventory as of May 11, Viking said Tuesday in its Q1 earnings report. CFO Leah Talactac said that with 92% of capacity booked, Viking has "effectively sold out the year, given our typical load factor." "With 2025 now largely secured, our focus has shifted to 2026, where we have a solid foundation with more than 37% of our capacity already sold, positioning us well amid evolving macroeconomic conditions," Talactac said. Viking reported $897.1 million in Q1 revenue, a nearly 25% jump year over year. "Viking is off to a remarkable start in 2025, with our first-quarter financial performance underscoring the continued momentum in our business," chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen said. January was the best booking month in company history, and the cruise line had its best Wave season (bookings in the first three months of the year), Hagen said. The line reported bookings in April and May are also up year over year. Q1 occupancy for river cruises was at 93.9%, while ocean capacity was at 94.4%. Capacity increased by nearly 15% in the first quarter due to the addition of two river cruise ships in Egypt -- the Viking Hathor and Viking Sobek -- and the Viking Vela ocean ship. The river cruise line has $5.5 billion in advanced bookings for this year and $2.7 billion for next year, a 17% increase from the same point in time in 2024. These bookings indicate that Viking's target audience remains "financially resilient" and prioritizes travel, the cruise line said. What's in the Viking pipeline Since the cruise line's last earnings call, the company has taken delivery of the Viking Nerthus, which will sail three itineraries on the Seine River in France. Viking announced it would add another ship on the Douro in 2027. It will be Viking's sixth ship in Portugal. The brand has also entered shipbuilding contracts for two ocean ships scheduled for delivery in 2031 and has options for two more in 2033. The company expects to add 11 new ocean ships to its fleet by 2031, including the Viking Libra, its first hydrogen-powered cruise ship. The company is on track to add one ocean ship and nine river ships this year.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Yahoo
For the country's 250th anniversary, American Cruise Lines plan nationwide river cruises that include St. Paul stops
St. Paul is set to be a central excursion point for a pair of 50-plus-day river cruises in 2026, billed by American Cruise Lines as the longest such voyages on the market. At 51 nights, the Great United States Cruise covers 14 states, including visits to three national parks. After heading from the Pacific Northwest to Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks, travelers will fly to New Orleans for a complete Mississippi River cruise ending in St. Paul (or mostly complete; sorry to all the Lake Itasca fans out there), then fly from the Twin Cities to Boston for a New England experience. This cruise runs May 29 to July 19, 2026. The longer Great American Fall Foliage Cruise, 54 nights, trades the national parks for a cruise of Alaska's Inside Passage, then a cruise from St. Louis to St. Paul and an exploration of more of the East Coast, cruising from Portland, Maine, to Washington, D.C. This cruise runs Sept. 5 to Oct. 29, 2026. Both itineraries also include a daylong stop each in Winona and Red Wing. We did not make the cut, evidently, for the Spring Across America cruise in April and May, which begins in South Carolina and Florida and only explores the Mississippi between Memphis and New Orleans before heading to the Pacific Northwest and up to Alaska. Prices for these cruises are not made available online; potential customers must request a custom quote. However, American sailed a similar itinerary, covering 20 states in 60 days, in 2024, and the per-person price for that journey ranged from $51,060 to $77,945. The price is all-inclusive of meals, daily excursions, transportation between cruise segments and, for the Great United States Cruise, an 'American Cruise Lines jacket and gear pack.' The impetus for these extended itineraries, according to the cruise line, is the country's semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary, in 2026. River cruising has been making a comeback in St. Paul in recent years, with luxury liners appearing to largely replace the paddle-wheelers of the past. Run by the international company Viking River Cruises, the splashy Viking Mississippi set sail from St. Paul in 2022, the first luxury cruise liner here in about a decade. Until American Cruise Lines reinstated service here a few years ago, the company's cruises had not stopped in St. Paul since 2018; its luxury ships made their final port-of-call instead in Red Wing. Full-time living on a cruise ship? Florida couple goes all in Get into all national parks for free on April 19 Professional deal finder reveals truth about cheap airfare Acclaimed designer reveals the item to pack for a good night's sleep at any hotel 'Coolcations' surge in popularity as travelers seek escape from summer heat The company currently operates fleets of both modern cruise ships — most of which have been newly constructed within the past half-decade or so — and renovated traditional paddle-wheelers. Meanwhile, paddle-wheeler stalwart American Queen Voyages stopped operations in St. Paul by 2019 and folded altogether last year. The broader statewide tourism industry has struggled a bit over the past three years, though, after a brief COVID-induced outdoor vacation surge in 2021. Last summer's tourism season was especially tough for businesses affected by major flooding along the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers.
